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Andhra Bank will in the coming few years emerge as a truly national bank, with a presence in all the states from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, while maintaining its growth in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Chairman and Managing Director C.V.R. Rajendran has said.
He was addressing customers and the public after inaugurating the Sagarnagar branch in the city on Thursday morning. He said in the past 16-18 months the bank had added more than 600 branches. "We have 2,500 branches at present and in the next one or two years we will add 1,100 branches more. Many of the branches will be outside AP and Telangana. It does not mean we will neglect the two states, our stronghold, but we will focus more on other states. The bank can no longer remain confined to the two Telugu states. It has to emerge stronger and face competition," he said.
He said AP and Telangana together accounted for 51 per cent of the bank’s business but it would be reduced to 35 per cent in the future, with the growth in other states. "Ideally, we want to have one-thirds of our business in AP and Telangana, and the rest in other states," Rajendran said.
He said the Visakhapatnam zone at present consisted of Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram districts, but soon Vizianagaram would be merged with Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam alone would be a zone.
"Visakhapatnam is by far the most important economic centre and city in Andhra Pradesh, though Vijayawada may be the political capital. We have 70 branches in Visakhapatnam district but we will open 30 more and the Vizag zone will have 100 branches," he said.
He said the bank would focus more on retail lending. The agricultural debt waiver schemes of the AP Government and Telangana had hit the bank in both states, and lending was also affected.
Referring to NPAs, he said the bank staff was getting actively involved in recovering loans and reducing the number of NPAs. "Our employees are peacefully exerting pressure on the borrowers to pay back the loans. There is nothing improper about it. We are employing Gandhian methods. We are not sending goondas in the guise of recovery agents like the private banks," he said.
Rajendran, who will be retiring soon, said, "The worst period is over for the bank. We are at present doing business of Rs 2,85,000 crore, of which Rs 1,30,000 crore is advances. Our bank will cross the Rs 5,00,000-crore mark in the next few years."
Lalitha Prasad, the zonal manager, also spoke on the occasion.
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